Point of View

Staying On is written mainly in the third person with the exception of portions of the text where the characters are reminiscing or having conversations. Since Lucy and Tusker tend to switch back and forth between talking to themselves and talking to others, much of the nature of the dialogue changes often. When the characters are doing something, the third party observer describes the activities. It gives the feeling of someone looking on rather than participating.

When any of the characters is reminiscing or carrying on imaginary conversations, then the first person is used. This has the effect of making those conversations seem more current than the activities that are actually occurring in the present. This effect may also be caused by the characters themselves living as much in the past as in the present, which makes the timeline rather fluid. The story moves slowly and...